A Soul's Desire (A Paul Lahote Story)

Chapter 9

A/N: For the treaty boundaries, I'm going off what is written in the Illustrated Guide, that being the reservation is off bounds to the Cullens, the Cullens land is off bounds to the pack, and anything else, such as the town of Forks is neutral territory. This means that Paul (and the others) are free to go to the Swan's house in either human or wolf form without violating the treaty. I felt I should make this clear since in the last chapter I had Paul at the Swan house in both forms and the Cullens are in town.

I've written a couple of future scenes already, as well as the epilogue, of course they are subject to change. I'm excited to get them in the story though and for everyone to see how I want things to go!

Also, just as a head's up. I am moving home in just over a week. I've had things going on in my personal life, and I'm moving to a new home away from my now ex. Because of having to pack and get things organised, I may not be able to write as much as usual, so it may be a few weeks before I can update again. I will be back, just as soon as things settle down.

~°*°~

June 12th, 2004

The last few months have passed quickly. Paul went back to school, with an order from Sam to keep his temper under control and to distance himself from his friends. He can still talk to them, but he is to stick close to Jared. There's been several times over the months where he's gotten angry and nearly phased accidentally, but luckily Jared, Sam, or both have managed to get him out of sight of people, so they've been able to keep the secret under wraps.

Jared explained everything to Kim a couple of weeks after Paul's birthday. She took it well, and was happy to know that the tribes legends are real, and even happier that he had imprinted on her. Turns out she has had a crush on him for as long as she can remember. Jared introduced her to the rest of us, and she has become another friend to me, along with Emily.

Emily moved into the house the tribal council gave her when she left hospital after the accident. Her and Sam have taken the time to get to know each other, and she's become the 'pack mom' - Paul and Jared will often go there after patrols to both catch Sam up on anything he needs to know, and to be fed by Emily. Paul still comes to my house in Forks a couple of times a week for dinner, but when I'm not feeding him, he goes there. I will also head to Emily's after school a couple of times of week. Kim and I will help her cook, and the six of us will have a catch up. So far, the only vampires they have come across are the Cullens. As much as I know they can handle themselves, I'm worried for when they do come across a real vampire threat.

Due to Sam being the first wolf to phase from this generation, and him being Alpha, he is now a senior tribal elder and also unofficial Chief of the tribe. It's a lot to be resting on an 18 year olds shoulders, but Emily keeps him grounded. It is easy to see why she is his imprint.

He is graduating today, and he will be moving in with Emily officially. He's been staying at her house a lot, but they decided to wait until he graduated for him to officially move in. Emily had graduated early, last December, not long after Sam imprinted on her. Paul, Jared, Emily, Kim and I are all going to the ceremony for Sam, Rachel and Rebecca. Things have not been good between Sam and Leah, at all, and I think he is relieved to not have to see her daily at school.

Rebecca is marrying Solomon tomorrow and will be moving to Hawaii with him in a few days. Rachel accepted the scholarship for college, and will be moving to Pullman in a few weeks. I will miss both of them as they are my best friends, but I've had to keep the pack a secret, so that has made things hard over recent months.

Dad has relaxed over the last few months too. He now lets me stay at Paul's house when I want to. The only thing he has said is that he is not ready to be a grandad yet.